View Full Version : We Were Soldiers Once.... As Kids
I'm posting this thread as a break from our present reality of craziness. A little bit of levity in a sea of of seriousness where it pertains to the subject of firearms and children. I harken back to the 60's as a kid growing up on the South Side of Chicago. Some of my fondest memories were of us neighborhood kids playing war on a weekly basis at our nearest forest preserve. My God did we have a hell of a good time.There was no shortage of fake six shooters, German Lugers, Colt 1911s, .30 cal. machine guns, 1903 Springfields, hand grenades, bayonets, and all sorts of USGI surplus. Looking back, no one seemed to be bothered watching a bunch of kids loaded for bear marching down the street in a scene reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch"!
I even remember a bunch of us all kitted up and crossing paths with a Chicago Police officer and him throwing his hands up yelling out, "I surrender, don't shoot me!" We shot him anyway! Once we got to our AO, it was our version of "Capture the Flag". A lot of shall we say tactics we got from the best war TV show of the 60's, "Combat". We learned how to set up fields of fire, ambushes, and even a bit of our unique interrogation techniques if you happened to get captured. God forbid if you were taken prisoner!
If you can remember this time and place in your childhood, how about posting your unique experience in combat describing the weaponry, gear, and tactics, that might benefit us all! Like I said, we were soldiers once..... as kids. :D
I'm posting this thread as a break from our present reality of craziness. A little bit of levity in a sea of of seriousness where it pertains to the subject of firearms and children. I harken back to the 60's as a kid growing up on the South Side of Chicago. Some of my fondest memories were of us neighborhood kids playing war on a weekly basis at our nearest forest preserve. My God did we have a hell of a good time.There was no shortage of fake six shooters, German Lugers, Colt 1911s, .30 cal. machine guns, 1903 Springfields, hand grenades, bayonets, and all sorts of USGI surplus. Looking back, no one seemed to be bothered watching a bunch of kids loaded for bear marching down the street in a scene reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch"!
I even remember a bunch of us all kitted up and crossing paths with a Chicago Police officer and him throwing his hands up yelling out, "I surrender, don't shoot me!" We shot him anyway! Once we got to our AO, it was our version of "Capture the Flag". A lot of shall we say tactics we got from the best war TV show of the 60's, "Combat". We learned how to set up fields of fire, ambushes, and even a bit of our unique interrogation techniques if you happened to get captured. God forbid if you were taken prisoner!
If you can remember this time and place in your childhood, how about posting your unique experience in combat describing the weaponry, gear, and tactics, that might benefit us all! Like I said, we were soldiers once..... as kids. :D
Sounds almost exactly like my childhood in the early/mid 80s. We eventually got into BB gun wars where we had forts, did patrols and conducted raids and ambushes. Some of us did get hurt, but fortunately not too seriously. The local doctor got to dig out a few BBs from appendages and such. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
HAHA BB gun Wars I remember those well and Banning one kid who got a pellet gun for the "Unfair" advantage of putting pellets under your skin :shout:.
walking down the street, all carrying our BB guns and a sack lunch for a day in the woods .
Man those were good times :cray:
HAHA BB gun Wars I remember those well and Banning one kid who got a pellet gun for the "Unfair" advantage of putting pellets under your skin :shout:.
walking down the street, all carrying our BB guns and a sack lunch for a day in the woods .
Man those were good times :cray:
Haha! We had the same rule about pellets and had a ban on CO2 powered guns. Nowadays if someone saw a kid or group of kids walking down the street with BB guns, they'd call the cops and it'd probably make the news.
My last fireworks battle ended with me in the ER. My squad was suppressing the enemy squad while I moved to the right flank with motor shell fireworks. I decide to cut the fuse and throw the shell, it decided to launch out of my hand, It did shower the enemy in sparkles so we won. When I shouted to my cousin that I needed to go to the ER he said, "My Mom has an aloe vera plant," I said, "**** your aloe vera plant I need to get to the ER now!" I was 19 and the first fireworks patient for the year. Now I play for real.
PA PATRIOT
12-30-12, 11:25
AAaa the Red Rider Wars, I remember them well. The rules were simple, No shooting in the face, Everyone had to have a pair of sun glasses or those goofy bench goggles.
But the main rule was of course a Red Rider lever action 200 shot repeater with or without the optional compass in the stock!
I recall are mom's always complaining that some one was going to get their eye shot out.
Those were the days!
theblackknight
12-30-12, 11:30
My little bro still plays airsoft(not the full kit, milsim, neckbeard kind) in the wood lots around town back home.
Paintball is just the grown up version.
sent from mah gun,using my sights
Eh, we used sticks. Sticks for guns and sticks for swords.
While my dad was in Vietnam I remember Santa brought one each of these for both my brother and me:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/nibroc01/ToyGunJohnnyEagle.jpg
I remember well playing "Army" as a kid. Only got in one BB gun fight, but was involved in quite a few dirt clod wars. We had webbed gear with canteens and bayonets and even picked up more than a few spent LAW rocket launchers for the princely sum of $5. We built a most impressive battery of "Army Rifles" out of scrap wood and junk that looked realistic enough to frighten the other moms in the neighborhood. In the summer, we'd come out at dusk to play with our Army Rifles and strangely, the other kids had to go inside.
One of our favorite AOs was out in the Mojave Desert. Once we'd dug this big foxhole and took turns defending and assaulting it. Once, while defending it, my brother and I decided to fall back to a better position further back up the mountain. As the other kids tried attacking up the hill, we'd see them, yell "Bang! You're dead, go back to camp!" then fall back further.
One kid kept coming. "I wanna go with you!" he whined. We just wanted to ditch him but he just kept coming.
"OK!" I yelled. "Get up here. You're our prisoner." By the time he got to us, we were about a half mile from camp. We ordered him to remove the laces from his shoes. We left him screaming and hogtied as we hiked down to play in the cool water of a trough fed year round by an underground spring. When we got back to camp, his mother was none to happy about it, but hey, it was fun for us!
The one and only BB gun war I was in ended badly- for the other side.
We went with our uncle on our usual weekend trip to Mojave as he'd gotten some extra time off that summer and got a couple of bonus days out there. Dad would follow later on Friday. We went afield with our BB guns to hunt lizards. Uncle was napping back at camp. After a couple hundred yards, our two cousins, AJ and DJ fell back with goofy grins. I tuned to see what was up and AJ said "You better run or I'll shoot you."
That actually scared me. Dad was adamantly against BB gun wars and his wrath for firearms safety violations was both swift and harsh. The usual was no firearms for 6 months and brother, let me tell you- we would rather die than lose our shooting privileges.
"No way," I said. "We're not getting into any BB gun war. Dad will kill us."
Our cousins pointed their BB guns at us and AJ said "If you don't run, I'll shoot you where you stand." We backed up and as I turned to dive behind a rock, AJ shot me in the ass. I got very angry. Not a hot anger, but a very cold anger. If I was going to get into trouble for this, I was going to make them two pay for it.
Our cousins turned and ran down hill to take cover in the ravine. My BB gun was a Crossman replica of the M1 carbine which cocked by puling the barrel in, then back out. It was the coolest BB gun on the face of the planet. I could cock and fire that BB gun pretty quick and I shot my cousin several times as they ran for cover. Instead of simply dropping into the ravine, my cousin took a flying leap. I shot and hit him high on the inner thigh as he flew through the air.
Once in the ravine they were in the ravine, I kept up grazing fire to keep their heads down. One shot, either from me or my brother, grazed a rock and angled down to hit DJ right between the eyes. Fortunately, he was wearing glasses. He decided he'd had enough and ran up the other side, heading back to camp. It was a good long shot and I held high. The sun was behind us and with each shot, I could see each BB like a glittering tracer from the reflected light. I watched in satisfaction as the BB reached the zenith of it's arc and drop unerringly into the middle of DJ's fleeing back. It hit him right on the spine between two vertebrae. His arms flung out and he went rigid, like he was crucified, then fell over backwards in the rocks. One down. AJ was next.
The AJ started yelling "CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE! What are you doing, it was just a BB gun fight!" Not for us, it wasn't, not knowing what penalties Dad would hit us with.
DJ turned out to be fine, just stunned. The hit literally stunned him for a moment. No one ever tried to start a BB gun war with us again and better, Dad never found out until we told him the story- after we were well into our thirties and had kids of our own.
Years later, AJ said "I knew we had you. Your BB gun only held 22 shots and I was going to out flank and shoot you up while you were trying to reload."
My brother, who is now a police officer in Houston, got that little smile of his and simply said "No you weren't." It was nice to know my brother had my back
While my dad was in Vietnam I remember Santa brought one each of these for both my brother and me:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/nibroc01/ToyGunJohnnyEagle.jpg
Do I ever remember the Johnny Eagle toy guns. I wanted that M14 and 1911 set so bad I could taste it. What I got was the cowboy set instead. I had fun, but would have traded the cowboy set and maybe even my Tonka Jeep for one.
I did get the Secret Sam set that would let you fire the gun from inside the attache case. I was going to be a spy when I grew up
*throws ball*
Hangernade!!!!
montanadave
12-30-12, 12:57
Haha! We had the same rule about pellets and had a ban on CO2 powered guns.
The insidious roots of gun control and weapons bans run deep!
;)
William B.
12-30-12, 13:35
The insidious roots of gun control and weapons bans run deep!
;)
Good one :p No paintball or BB guns here. Our load-out usually consisted of Combat Force (http://www.toy-gun.com/brands/Combat-Force.html) (good to see these guys are still in business), Nerf, cap guns, squirt guns, and pocket knives. And growing up in the Camp LeJeune area, we were constantly acquiring worn out cammies from friends' parents as well as cammie paint and whatever sweet uniform items we could pick up from "Saigon Sam's".
I'm not one to stand in the way of progress, but I admit I was sad to see our beloved woods cut down and developed into lots for houses. I had more good times than I can recall playing war in those woods as a kid.
Another kid reporting for duty.
Running around with my friends wearing genuine WWII vintage jackets, web belts and holsters. I was one of the lucky few who had a Replica Models 1911 (now known as Collectors Armory).
http://www.collectorsarmoury.com/images/22-1227.jpg
We'd go on missions all over the neighborhood looking for "kraut" or "jap" patrols. And yeah, we got much of our motivation and tactics from "Combat!" reruns.
I had a little too much gun safety drilled into my head for BB gun wars. But we had a variation. We'd each take a bag of 100 plastic soldiers and deploy them in the yard. There was a no mans land and we'd each set up our armies without the other looking.
Then armed with our trusty pellet guns we'd stand behind our front line and search out and attempt to shoot enemy soldiers. First one to find and shoot all the other guys men wins. It could take hours.
...We'd each take a bag of 100 plastic soldiers and deploy them in the yard. There was a no mans land and we'd each set up our armies without the other looking.
Then armed with our trusty pellet guns we'd stand behind our front line and search out and attempt to shoot enemy soldiers. First one to find and shoot all the other guys men wins. It could take hours.
We played the same game. Since we played out in Mojave, we also made "Japanese Bunkers" from empty 22 boxes, empty bean cans, sticks and whatever else we could find and proceed to blast them apart with every caliber known to mankind.
My little brother spent many hours fighting WWII on both fronts at the same time as his favorite enemy was the "Germanese"
QuickStrike
12-30-12, 14:26
Nah, I was an adventurer and naturalist. Catching crickets, grasshoppers, crawdads, snakes, etc...
Did have lots of rubber-band guns though. Thems insects are dangerous you know. :p
Geez guys, I haven't had a good laugh in quite some time. Those stories are golden! One time me and my squad were chosen for a rear guard action so that the rest of the platoon could go to a fallback position to guard the flag/HQ. Just about the time we were about to be overrun by a superior force the rest of my squad cut and ran. I'm there by myself thinking "Oh shit, what now?" Being half Japanese, I decide to go into a full blown, linear Banzai charge, yelling "Die, die, Yankee Dog"! Well sure enough I'm overwhelmed and taken prisoner, but I'm not taking it laying down. I'm throwing out insults like crazy. Things like "Your Mother wears combat boots. Your Dad drinks Pabst. You "Roundeyes suck, etc. Like I said before there were some interesting interrogation techniques that were used since nobody even knew about the Geneva Convention. They tie me up and hang me up by my ankles. I'm thinking no big deal, I can take this no problem. Then they tie a pillow case around my neck with a Garter snake in it. Holy shit!!! In no time I'm spilling the beans on everything, name, rank, serial number, troop strength, location of HQ, lunch money. You name it, I gave it up! At the end of the day we all had a good laugh. No lasting damage was done, except to this day I get the creepies whenever I cross paths with a Garter snake. I give them a wide berth! :D
The insidious roots of gun control and weapons bans run deep!
;)
:lol:, nah, just trying to keep the playing field free of injuries we couldn't hide from our mom and dads. We also had a '2 pump rule' for those lucky few that had the pump up guns. That rule applied to me as I had a Daisy pump gun that came with a scope.
I had a little too much gun safety drilled into my head for BB gun wars. But we had a variation. We'd each take a bag of 100 plastic soldiers and deploy them in the yard. There was a no mans land and we'd each set up our armies without the other looking.
Then armed with our trusty pellet guns we'd stand behind our front line and search out and attempt to shoot enemy soldiers. First one to find and shoot all the other guys men wins. It could take hours.
We played the same game. Since we played out in Mojave, we also made "Japanese Bunkers" from empty 22 boxes, empty bean cans, sticks and whatever else we could find and proceed to blast them apart with every caliber known to mankind.
My little brother spent many hours fighting WWII on both fronts at the same time as his favorite enemy was the "Germanese"
Ha ha ha - yes! Used to spend hours digging out extensive bunker and tunnel systems. Loved setting up those Army men and the oh so valuable jeep. Some days were D-Day, others Iwo Jima. Best times were around 4th of July when we could call in the "Black Cat" artillary and screaming mimi bottle rockets. You had to be a damn good shot to pick off that prone sniper before he got you :p Thanks for the great flashbacks.
Ha ha ha - yes! Used to spend hours digging out extensive bunker and tunnel systems. Loved setting up those Army men and the oh so valuable jeep. Some days were D-Day, others Iwo Jima. Best times were around 4th of July when we could call in the "Black Cat" artillary and screaming mimi bottle rockets. You had to be a damn good shot to pick off that prone sniper before he got you :p Thanks for the great flashbacks.
Damn forgot about the black cat artillery. You learned not to clump your guys up.
And we did bunkers and stuff but our rule was the guys all had to be partially visible from the other side of the line.
caelumatra
12-30-12, 17:38
Did the same during the mid 80s. All the local kids (which there were many of but that's a complaint for another thread lol) would all come to the woods next our house and have wars. Only pretend guns and never BBs so it was all sound effects and "I got you you're dead!" sounding through the woods lol. Good times :)
Grew up in the 60's. We had a neighborhood full of kids and had a great time growing up.
If we weren't playing football or baseball we were playing army.
Used every thing from "store bought" toy guns to sticks.
Our most lethal weapon was the green pine cone grenade. They hurt like hell when they connected.
At night, mostly during or after Christmas, we had bottle rocket and roman candle fights. Got nailed in the forehead with a roman candle while peaking out behind a tree. Those hurt too.
When noone was around to play with, I'd set up my GI Joes in the bushes and take shots at them with my BB rifle.
Those were the days.
Damn forgot about the black cat artillery. You learned not to clump your guys up.
Growing up in California, we learned about rain. Folks think it rains in Washington, but I'm here to tell you it's just not true. Sure, it's damp and miserable but the weather waffles between a real heavy fog and a light rain. In California, when it rains it rains and washes Malibu out to sea. In our backyard the grass rapidly grew a couple of feet tall, lush, thick and green. My brothers and their friends made a little BMX track in the back yard and dug out a little oxbow turn that was filled with muddy water. With the grass growing all around that little oxbow, it looked like a scene out of Apocalypse Now which inspired me to set up a bunch of Army men for a little fun. After we had everything in place, riverine craft, docks, ambushers in the brush and in the river, those plastic M60 tanks and jeeps, a flash of real inspiration struck. I decided to use a little gasoline to light the miniature river on fire. Li'l Bro wanted to pour it out but I told him we just wanted a little fire so it a job best left for a pro. Being the Big Bro, I was that pro.
I splashed a bit of gasoline in that scummy oxbow in our Vietnamese river. It was dark and couldn't see to judge how much gasoline I'd poured out and wasn't sure I'd given it enough so I gave it a couple more sloshes to be sure. I told Li'l Bro to stand back and tossed in a lit match.
WOOOOF! A column fire shot up as high as the second story window, which scared the hell out of me because that fire wasn't very far away from the old wood overhang on the back of the house. Rule #1 in all our shenanigans- Don't any leave evidence behind for Dad or Mom to find. Burning down the house was a clear violation of Rule #1. I grabbed a shovel I made sure was nearby and scooped a big wave of water over that pool of flames. The fire folded over like a tsunami and I knew a moments panic as the flames spread across the thick grass. Another wave and the fire was out, leaving the acrid smell of gasoline on the night air. Shaking from the near disaster, I turned to look at Li'l Bro to see if he was ok.
His eyes were wide and he said "That was so cool! Let's do it again!"
And we did bunkers and stuff but our rule was the guys all had to be partially visible from the other side of the line.
We never worried about that. If we couldn't dig them out with the 22s, we blasted the bunkers apart with our centerfire rifles
Me and the 3rd grade teachers son had sea bags OVERFLOWING with toy guns. We armed the entire school at recess. Kids ranged from K-6... we had a ball till we got older and sports and ball took over.
Belmont31R
12-30-12, 20:14
BB gun wars, paint ball, fireworks...all good stuff.
When I was real young a hockey stick was my 'long rifle'. Used to march around.
We lived in NJ for a year when I was six, and when we went to a historical site I disappeared from my parents. They found me marching behind the reinactors.
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